Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism

Congress amended the 1996 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to allow U.S. victims of terrorism to sue designated State sponsors of terrorism for their terrorist acts.

The courts have handed down large judgements against the terrorist State defendants, generally in default, and successive Administrations have intervened to block the judicial attachment of frozen assets to satisfy judgements.

This book provides background on the doctrine of State immunity and the FSIA; details the evolution of the terrorist State exception and some of the resulting judicial decisions; describes legislative efforts to help claimants satisfy their judgements; summarises the hostages' suit against Iran and Congress's efforts to intervene; summarises the status of lawsuits against Iraq and Libya; and provides an overview of proposed legislation (S. 3370, H.R. 3346, S. 1944, H.R. 394, H.R. 5167, and H.R. 2764). Appendix A provides a list of cases, including those covered by TRIA 2002 and the amount of compensation paid.

Appendix B lists the assets of each terrorist State currently blocked by the United States and the total amount owed by each for terrorism judgements.